Internal combustion engine



Feb. 24, 1970 J. J. MOYLAN 3,496,917

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Jan. 25, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 iii.

FIG. I

INVENTOR= JOHN J. MOYLAN IIIHIIH mum mum

Feb. 24, 1970 J. J. MOYLAN 3,496,917

INTERNALCOMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Jan. 25, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 a I: 3 4H INVENTOR= JOHN J. MOYLAN J. J. MQYLAN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Feb.24, 1 970 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 25, 1968 1NVENTOR= JOHN J. MOYLANUnited States Patent 3,496,917 INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE John J.Moylan, Tularosa, N. Mex., assignor of one-half to Lenard Wiegert,Ashland, Nebr. Filed Jan. 25, 1968, Ser. No. 700,428 Int. Cl. F02b 57/00US. Cl. 123-44 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An engine having arotor rotating in a hollow housing on an axle with pistons radiallymoving in the rotor toward and away from the axle, power transfer pinmeans carried by each piston and protruding from each side of eachpiston into approximately elliptical recesses in said housing, wherebywhen said pistons are driven toward said axle said elliptical recesseswill guide said pins in a manner such that the force of said pinsagainst radial pin receiving slots in said rotor will cause rotor andits drive shaft to rotate.

It is an objective to improve over prior art engines by providing anengine that will perform at high or low r.p.m. and which can have,within its principles, sufficient pistons to have a substantiallycontinuous application of power to its drive shaft.

It is an object to provide an engine in which each piston fires once ineach revolution and which will operate on a glow plug for ignition, andon low octane fuel when desired.

A further object is to provide a rotor which acts as a flywheel and iswell balanced and in which the great mass of moving parts consistschiefly of those parts which provide this fly-wheel effect for giving acontinuity of momentum with very little mass moving in any directionother than in harmony with the rotary motion of the main mass of themoving parts.

A main advantage is to provide an engine of few and simple parts mostlywith cylindrical surfaces for providing an economy of production, aperfection of balance, and a long life for economy of operation.

Still another object is to provide an engine which can be easily openedfor ready access for repairs.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a frontal elevation of the engine.

FIGURE 2. is an end view of the engine as seen from the right in FIGURE1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIGURE 1.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the engine is there generally indicated at andhas a hollow housing 12, having a center block 20, best seen in FIGURE2, the lower portion of which serves as a mounting, as seen at 22. Thehousing also has end plates 26 on each side of thecenter block and heldthereon by bolts 30.

A drive shaft extends through a drive shaft opening 42 in each of theend plates 26 and, as best seen in FIGURE 3, extends also through arotor 50 to which it is secured by a key 54.

The rotor 50 is received in a rotor cavity 52 in the housing 12. Therotor 50 rotates about an axis 58 through the drive shaft 40 and has anouter periphery 60, preferably of approximately cylindrical shapesymmetrical about the axis 58.

The rotor 50 has two sides 70 and 72, best seen in FIGURE 4, eachpreferably dis-posed approximately in a plane normal to the axis 58, andspaced apart along said axis.

The rotor 50 has a plurality of radially extending piston 3,496,917Patented Feb. 24, 1970 chambers therein and each opening upon theperiphery of the rotor. A plurality of pistons with cylindrical sidewalls are disposed one in each of the cylindrical piston chambers 70 andhave piston rings 92 mounted thereon.

Power transfer pin means carried by each piston 90 and having exteriorportions protruding from each side of the piston in parallelism with thedriveshaft 40, such exterior portions being cylindrical along theirouter surfaces.

The end plates 26 of the housing have a pair of approximately ellipticalrecesses extending into them from the rotor chamber 52, the recessesbeing in alignment with each other, as viewed along the axis 58, Wherebythe end plate 26, shown in FIGURE 5, looks exactly the same when viewedfrom its inner side 124 as does the other end plate 26.

The rotor 50 has radially extending slots 150, best seen in FIGURE 4,extending inwardly, each from a respective side of the rotor, andinwardly to the respective piston chamber 70.

The slots are also well in FIGURE 6, and are disposed one on each sideof each piston 90, and slidably receive the respective exterior portions110 of the power transfer pin means 100.

The exterior portions 110 of the pin means 100 are slidably received inthe respective recesses 150 for moving therein toward and away from theaxis 58.

The outer wall 250 of each recess 120 has two half portions 252 and 254,as best seen in FIGURE 5, each of which has a concave surface facing theconcave surface of the other half portions 252 and 254.

The housing can have suitable ignition means as illustrated for exampleonly by the sparkplug 300 and producing ignition heat at an ignitionposition 310 in the rotor chamber, the ignition position .310 beingadjacent to a point where the two half portions 252 and 254 of therespective recesses 120 meet each other.

The rotor 50 rotates in the direction of the arrow 400 and the housing12 has an intake port 420 for receiving therethrough a combustible fueland air mixture from suitable carburetion means not shown in detail,except that the carburetor is indicated at 430, in FIGURE 1, with itsair intake or air cleaner at 432.

The intake port 420 is disposed in a position preceding the lgnitionposition 310, as best seen in FIGURE 3, and an exhaust port 440 isprovided between the ignition position 310 and the intake port 420.

The intake and exhaust ports 420 and 440 each open upon the rotorchamber 52, at points approximately opposite the narrowest and widestparts 500 and 502 of the elliptical recesses 120, the ignition position310 being diametrically opposite the exhaust port 440.

The driveshaft 40 carries and rotates with the rotor 50.

In operation, as the piston moves toward the axis under fire, it will betraveling with a minimum resistance down a side portion of theelliptical recess 120, which defines an angle, with respect to a radii700 extending from the ignition position end of the recess 120 to theaxis of the engine, which angle is less than 45 with respect to the saidradii 700 during the entire 90 power stroke for efliciency of powerdelivery, the pin 100 of the piston then passing by the opposite end 502of the elliptical recess for exhaust, so that as the pin returns alongthe return sides of the recesses, it is experiencing no resistance fromthe piston which can freely move on a return stroke with the gases in arespective combustion chamber exhausted.

Side plates 500' are attached by bolts 510 to opposite sides of therotor 50 and snugly receive shaft 40 therethrough with the plates 500preventing movement of the 3 key 54 along the shaft 40. The plates 500make dismantling simple and eflicient.

The engine has a standard cooling system.

I claim:

1. An engine having a hollow housing, a rotor cavity in said housing, arotor in said cavity and having an axis and a periphery and two sidesspaced apart along said axis, said rotor having a plurality of radiallyextending piston chambers therein and each piston chamber opening uponthe periphery of said rotor, a plurality of pistons disposed one in eachof said piston chambers, power transfer pin means carried by each pistonand having exterior portions protruding from each side of said piston inparallelism with said drive shaft, said housing having a pair ofapproximately elliptical recesses extending into said housing from saidrotor chamber, said recesses being in alignment as viewed along saidaxis, the outer periphery of all sides of said recesses being convex,said rotor having radially extending slots each extending inwardly fromone of said sides to the respective piston chamber, said slots beingdisposed one on each side of each piston and slidably receiving therespective exterior portions of said pins therethrough, the saidexterior portions of said pin means being received in said recessesrespectively, the outer wall of each recess having two half portionseach of which have a concave surface facing the concave surface of theother half portion, said housing having ignition means mounted thereinand producing ignition heat in said rotor chamber at an ignitionposition which is adjacent to a point where said two half portions ofeach said recess meet, said rotor rotating in one direction, saidhousing having an intake port in a position preceding said ignitionposition and having an exhaust port between said ignition position andsaid intake port, said intake and exhaust ports opening upon said rotorchamber at points approximately opposite narrowest and widest parts ofsaid elliptical recesses, and a drive shaft rotatably mounted in saidhousing and fixed to and carrying said rotor, and means supplyingcombustible fuel to said intake port.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which said housing has a center blockdisposed around said rotor and two end plates removably secured toopposite ends of said center block.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which said center block has mountingmeans attached thereto.

4. The combination of claim 1 in which said recesses are graduallycurving on their outer periphery even at the ends of their ellipticalconfigurations.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,157, 811 10/1915 Shannon.

FOREIGN PATENTS 123,920 7/1931 Austria. 1,320,499 1/1963 France.

C. J. HUSAR, Primary Examiner

